From the Heart of the Shepherd
- Church of St. Mark
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
From the bulletin for The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (2025 November 02)
Nov 2: All Souls
The landscape of American English and its cultural expressions are littered with stark disjunctives. “Liberty or death!” (Patrick Henry). “California or bust!” (1849 gold rushers). “God or nothing!” (2015 book by Cardinal Sarah). “Ride or die!” (1950s motorcyclists and early-2000s gangsta rappers).
Yet we Christians live our lives in the shadow of an even starker either/or: Mercy or hell! That’s precisely the most concisely-worded summary of the parable (prophecy?) of the Judgement of the Nations in Matthew 25: “And these [who did not practice mercy towards the needy representatives of Christ] will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Mt 25:46).
Put positively (and conditionally), “If mercy then Heaven!” The first gains the second. If we show mercy in this life to those afflicted by one form of misery or another, we will be shown into the halls of eternal happiness in the next. Shown the very face of God for all eternity! By mercy we serve Christ and become like Him. Mercy and God!
You can decide which formulation provides greater moral impetus. Either way, if we are wise, we will be busy about mercy during the brief “day” of this life. And so, now that we are engaged with the parish mission after two months of recommitting to the holy use of our time, talent, and treasure (right?), we turn our attention to what is at the heart of the parish mission and the very marrow of the activity of God and His Church.
Yes, at St. Mark’s, November is the Month of Mercy. A month dedicated to showing others that provident loving-kindness that God shows to us every day, constantly raising us up from the poverty of our nothingness towards the fullness of His bounty and inviting us to “go and do likewise” (Lk 10:37). We do this not in order to “check the box,” but rather to “stir into flame” our zeal for loving one another as Christ has loved us with ever greater gusto. With deeds!
The centerpiece of our parish efforts comes right in the middle. Saturday the 15th is our MercyMorning. I count on the SignUpGenius 11 different offerings on the MercyMenu for you and your household to choose from, everything from packing snacks and baking desserts on campus to serving meals, calling bingo, and distributing winter gear directly to those in need. It’s the annual Alms-Fest! Be there or … be somewhere else.
But no need to wait until the 15th to show mercy. If you are reading this in Coffee & Donuts after 9am, believe that the Holy Spirit is nudging you to join those few generous souls who will be leaving shortly for Calvary Cemetery to pray for the dead. And I challenge the whole parish to commit to some prayer or penance offering for the poor souls throughout the month of November. Make some petition of them yourself; come December, see how those grateful souls come through for you!
There’s also an important almsgiving push happening this month: we are coming down to the wire with our Catholic Service Appeal for 2025; to date we are 60% of the way to our parish’s goal. Then, at the Christ the King reception you will have a chance to purchase religious articles in support of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, which so greatly need our help.
On that note, consider committing during the course of this month to some regular way of practicing the spiritual or corporal works of mercy. Our parish has two monthly opportunities to feed meals to the hungry. Pastoral care is always accepting new volunteers to visit the sick. Perhaps you have ignorant or wayward individuals in your lives you can gently instruct or admonish (regularly or no). And I am sure the Good Lord will not leave you without opportunities to bear wrongs meekly, forgive offenses willingly, or give a cup of cold water to some little one in your life. Finally, with the suspension of SNAP benefits, an easy way to show mercy each week would be to bring a donation to our local food shelf with you each Sunday. Give, or they go hungry!
Comments